Categories

Source Filmmaker

Hidden beneath the massive Meet the Pyro update, this video slipped out introducing what Valve are calling Source Filmmaker. This tool was developed and used for not only all of the "Meet The" videos, but as well as every other cutscene that Valve has created for their various games, in addition to in-game sequences.

Just watch this:

This is a massive paradigm shift. Filmmakers in Hollywood have been trying for YEARS to have a proper real-time animation and graphics pipeline, and it hasn't been until recently that they sort of accomplished this. Valve's been doing this since 2007 like it was no big deal.

The included animation tools are fantastic. Outside of a professional program, they're some of the best I've seen. And the fact that everything can be done and captured in a multiplayer game environment, and THEN tweaked, makes this an end-all be-all solution for machinima.

Asset creation is one of the most difficult barriers for entry when it comes to animation. But think of what Source Filmmaker means to potential artists when it's directly tied to Steam Workshop. There are thousands and thousands of assets to use, with more being created by the day in an endlessly evolving world of resource tied around a central architecture. Valve is changing gaming as we know it with TF2. They've created a massive ecosystem that continuously changes and ties back into itself. The sheer implications of all that they've done is mind boggling.

Five years after TF2's release, and the real fun is just getting started. I can't even wrap my mind around it.

This goes so far beyond existing tools for machinima, I can barely find the words to describe it. The possibilities here are almost endless.

The fact that you're not just capturing the resulting 2D output of a game, but actually capturing the entire 3D environment which then allows you to manipulate almost every aspect of it just boggles the mind.

I'm going to have to revisit this reply at a later time, since I'm having trouble finding descriptive phrases in my brain right now.

Hollywood will have this one day; 20, maybe 30 years from now, entire films will be created in a 3D world and manipulated fully inside that virtual space. But hey, no big deal, a little video game company from Washington has been doing that since the earlier 21st century.

Think of it. We could have a TF2 match played in this system. Record all of it. I could drop it in, light it, set up camera blocking, and make an action film out of our match. This could be done at Expo for the big tourney.

Slow motion kills, dramatic camera angles, close up shots, all telling the individual stories of the game that we individually experience in separate. I can't wait to get my hands on this.

Think of it. We could have a TF2 match played in this system. Record all of it. I could drop it in, light it, set up camera blocking, and make an action film out of our match. This could be done at Expo for the big tourney.

Slow motion kills, dramatic camera angles, close up shots, all telling the individual stories of the game that we individually experience in separate. I can't wait to get my hands on this.

I pictured this with the "lines" from past matches I've participated in.An action packed musical montage of Cola and GnomeQueen singing "Still Alive' and more, while fighting comes to mind.

The "Meet The Pyro" video is amazing, sure, but this announcement completely dwarfs it. Source Filmmaker's been known about for a couple of years now, and there used to be a way a few folks were able to get their hands on it to work with. But the fact that they're now working on an official, user-friendly, supported public model for folks to use is amazing. I honestly should have REMEMBERED this was coming- Valve had stated at some point beforehand that they were going to finally work on a release once the last of the "Meet The Team" videos were out, but I -completely- forgot.

On the pony side of things, just wait til those pony models get converted for this. Shit's gonna get awesome.